As the Thanksgiving holiday approaches, we want to share with you just a few things we’re thankful for.

1: Books…and the sexier the better.

2: Boys…and preferably hot ones with titles or war stallions.

3: Blog readers! We’re so grateful to all of you for visiting, reading, commenting, and offering suggestions.

In fact, we’re so grateful we’re giving thanks for you with…A GIVEAWAY! And you know what that means…FREE BOOKS! That’s right! One lucky reader will win 6 (6!) of Harlequin’s hottest new books. All you have to do is follow the link below, where you’ll fill out a form and follow all 6 of the books’ authors on Twitter. For an extra entry, leave us a comment on this post telling us what you’re thankful for this year.

The giveaway will close at 11:59pm on Sunday, November 27th. We’ll announce the winner at 12pm on Monday, November 28th.

Thank you again for reading with us! And come back tomorrow and Friday for reviews of two of these books, Married to Her Enemy by Jenni Fletcher and The Saxon Outlaw’s Revenge by Elisabeth Hobbes. Spoiler alert: they’re awesome.

Jodi Ellen Malpas’ new book The Protector releases today. To be honest, we haven’t read it yet (top of the TBR list), but we are OBSESSED with the cover art of this book.

Lola remarked to Elinor that it reminded her of The Bodyguard. Elinor agreed, but thought The Protector was even sexier because the girl isn’t wearing poor Whitney Houston’s uncomfortable-looking leather getup. Either way, the branding for this book is totally on point: sexy imaging, movie-poster style cover design, reminiscent of a classic. Way to work it, Jodi Ellen Malpas. And now we’re going to have “I Will Always Love You” stuck in our head all day 😉

One thing we do agree on, though, is romantic fiction. We love it. If you’re reading this blog, you probably love it, too. Sadly, this affair with the genre we all share is one that’s often looked down upon by the literary establishment. We thought it fitting, then, that one of our very first blog posts should be an act of defiance against those high-brow haters. Thus, we offer you what we’ve decided to call our Romanifesto: a manifesto on the unadulterated awesomeness that is romantic fiction. So, grab a glass of wine (or a cocktail!) and let us tell you why we love romance.

Hello romance world! Welcome to our brand-new blog. We are so thrilled to be joining the romance conversation and community! Although we have a few posts for your perusal, today is our first official day, so we wanted to take the time to briefly introduce ourselves.

We are two lifelong lovers of romantic fiction. In our real lives, we are both aspiring professors. Because of the stuck-up world of academia, we are forced to write this blog under the pen names Elinor Wolfe and Lola Quirk. Although we are incredibly proud to be romance readers, blogger, and (hopefully) writers, the reality of hiring committees and tenure track jobs means that we will be part of the romance community anonymously.

However, while our names are masked, our opinions definitely are not. Our goal is to read great books, write thoughtful and fun reviews, help you find your next favorite author, and talk to you awesome romance readers and writers! We’re hoping for a dialogue here; perhaps you love an underappreciated author, or you’re looking for a particular feature on a romance blog– if so, we want to hear from you! Let us know what you like and don’t like, what you wish to see more of, or if you’d like to join the conversation (leave a comment on our posts or stop by our Contact page)!

Please take a look around and explore the content we have ready for you. You can find out more about us on our Behind the Masks page and find out about ways to get involved on our Policies page. We’ll be adding content regularly, so keep coming back for new stuff. Thanks for being one of our first readers!

1. The guys are always hot.No matter your type, there’s a romance novel hero for you. Whether you like them smart, stoic, or full of swagger, someone has written hero to fulfil your fantasies.

2. The women are dynamic.Some are sweet and some are spicy. Some are refined and some are reckless. Whether you envision yourself as a damsel-in-distress or a take-no-prisoners kind of gal, you’ll find a heroine with whom you can identify.

3. The sex is good.We’re fans of everything, from romance by candlelight to tearing up the sheets. A good romance affects your mind… and body.

4. Female inhibitions are out the door.Not only is the sex good, but romance novels are a place where female sexuality can be explored and celebrated! What’s not to love about that?